Pellegrini still seeking perfection after Arsenal rout

Six goals against the league’s best defence to move within three points of the table summit and still, Manuel Pellegrini wasn’t completely satisfied.

While the Chilean was delighted with his team’s sublime attacking performance, he still called upon his side to defend better as a collective after the 6-3 win over Arsenal.

The 60-year old was unhappy to concede three goals in a match he believes the Blues could, and should, have won by a bigger margin.

“It’s very important to be an entertaining team but I would prefer we won 6-0 rather than 6-3,” Pellegrini declared.

“Every manager can think the way they want to think, maybe some managers prefer to score one and sit back but we will continue to keep trying to score goals because that’s how we want to win.

“It’s possible to [win in attacking fashion without conceding] but the whole team must know how to defend. I will watch the game again tomorrow but I don’t remember Arsenal having that many chances to score more than three.

“The first goal they scored was a mistake we made in possession and the last one was a corner at 5-3 – we can improve at this."

...Manuel Pellegrini...

“Attacking, it was a very good performance, it’s not easy to score six against Arsenal – the best defence in the Premier League but I think we had four more good, clear chances to score goals, so in that sense I’m very happy but we must keep improving.”

A man-of-the-match winning performance by Fernandinho was one aspect of the match that Pellegrini couldn’t fault.

The City boss referred to the Londrina-born midfielder’s showing as “perfection” and it wasn’t just about his first two goals for the club.

“Fernandinho played a perfect game in all senses, not just his two goals but he recovered a lot of balls and had a lot of pace,” Pellegrini stated.

“I am very happy for him but you will see how good he is over the season – he will get better every week.

“Yaya, Samir and David all played very well today, too. The four in the midfield are very difficult to play against – the strikers can score a lot of goals with them behind them.

“When we bought Fernandinho, we were absolutely sure he was a top player. I saw him many times in the Champions League.

...Manuel Pellegrini...

“He is a typical Brazilian midfielder, he plays very well with the ball, he has a lot of pace – he gets forward well. He’s doing very good work with Yaya Toure and I’m very happy for him.”

When asked about the 28-year old’s price tag against his value for money, Pellegrini was definitive: “Important players aren’t cheap.”

Manuel also revealed that Sergio Aguero’s injury will be assessed by City doctors on Sunday.

“Aguero has a problem with his calf – we’ll see tomorrow how many weeks he will be out,” he revealed.

Pellegrini’s Arsenal counterpart was adamant that the score could have been different on another day.

The Frenchman believes that the 6-3 scoreline flattered the hosts and that they were not necessarily the best team his side had faced this season.

“We had the best defence in the league but we conceded many goals today,” Wenger asserted.

“Honestly, we could have scored at least six today as well. It was a very open game, we made too mistakes though.

“Our strength until today was our defensive strength but that went today.

“What hurts me more is that we had a chance to go nine points clear of City today but now the gap is only two points."

...Arsene Wenger...

“City were not unbeatable today. City are one of the teams to beat this season but not more so than other teams we have played this season.

“We’ve played Everton who are as good as City. We’ve played Southampton who are as good as City.”